22-24 August, 1994
Copenhagen, Denmark

7th CONFERENCE OF THE EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION FOR JAPANESE STUDIES, EAJS

By Heinrich Menkhaus

The Seventh Triennial Conference held at the University of Copenhagen was
attended by over 400 participants from the following countries: Australia,
Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, The Czech Republic, Denmark,
Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Israel,
Italy, Japan, Malaysia, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland,
Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, The United
Kingdom, and the United States of America.
The conference opened with words of welcome from the Rector Magnificus of
the University of Copenhagen, K. M�llg�rd; the Japanese Ambassador to
Denmark, Mr. Karita Yoshio; the executive Vice-President of The Japan
Foundation, Mr. Kusaba Muneharu; and the President of the EAJS, Prof.
Adriana Boscaro from the University of Venice. During the conference
participants could enjoy two receptions, one offered by the City of
Copenhagen at the Town Hall and the other in the restaurant Nimb at the
Tivoli, sponsored by The Japan Foundation.

After Prof. Olof Lidin, head of the Japanese Department of the University
of Copenhagen and also the head of the Local Organizing Committee for the
conference, had given his lecture: Tanagashima -- the arrival of the first
Europeans in Japan, deliberations began in the 8 sections: Urban and
Environmental Studies (1); Linguistics and Language Teaching (2);
Literature (3); Visual and Performing Arts (4); Anthropology and Sociology
(5); Economics / Economic and Social History (6); History, Politics and
International Relations (7); and Religion and the History of Ideas (8). In
three days a total of 169 papers was presented including the keynote
lectures delivered by Japanese guests whom the EAJS were able to invite to
each section with the financial support of The Japan Foundation. Detailed
conference reports based on the contributions from the section convenors:
Halina Dunin-Woyseth and Paul Waley (section 1); Stefan Kaiser and Bjarke
Frellesvig (section 2); Mark Morris and Tzvetana Kristeva (section 3);
Timon Screech and Nicola Liscutin (section 4); Ian Reader, Lise Skov and
Arne Kalland (section 5); Werner Pascha and Sarah Metzger-Court (section
6); Ian Neary (section7); Joseph Kyburz and Jean Pierre Berthon (section 8)
will be published in the Bulletin of the EAJS No.41, due to be mailed to
members in March 1995, and the Japan Foundation Newsletter, due in May
1995.

After being founded in 1973, the European Association for Japanese Studies
began a tradition of holding triennial conferences. They were held in
Z�rich (1976), Florence (1979), The Hague (1982), Paris (1985), Durham
(1988), and Berlin (1991). For reports of these conferences see: NN: '1st
International Japanese Studies Conferences of the EAJS", The Japan
Foundation Newsletter (JFN), Vol.IV/No.4 (October 1976), p. 2; Fosco
Maraini: "The Second International Conference of the European Association
for Japanese Studies", JFN, Vol.VII/No.4 (October/November 1979), pp. 6-7;
Olof G. Lidin: "The 3rd International Conference of the European
Association for Japanese Studies", JFN, Vol.X/No.5 (January 1983), pp.
9-13; Hartmut O. Rotermund: "Fourth International Studies Conference on
Japan, European Association for Japanese Studies, EAJS", JFN, Vol.XIII/No.5
(March 1986), pp. 10-17; Ian Nish: "The Durham Conference, 1988: European
Japanologists in Debate", JFN, Vol.XVI/No.4 (March 1989), pp. 13-20; and
Sepp Linhart: "Plurality and Specialization, Report on the sixth
International Conference on Japan of the European Association for Japanese
Studies (EAJS), Berlin, September 16-19, 1991", JFN, Part 1, Vol.XIX/No. 4
(February 1992), pp. 14-23, and Part 2, Vol.XIX/Nos.5-6 (May 1992), pp.
12-15.

Dr. Heinrich Menkhaus is the Director of the P.O. of the European
Association for Japanese Studies, Leiden, the Netherlands.